Ibn e Battuta the Moroccan Traveler & his book ‘The Journey ‘ Rihla

Abu Abdul lah Muhammad Ibn Battuta,
better known simply as Ibn Battuta [1304–circa 1377 AD] was a Moroccan Muslim
scholar and traveler, who was born in Tangier, Morocco. 

He is considered one of
the greatest travelers of all time, and is well known for the account of his
travels and excursions. The full title of the book of his journeys is Tuhfaat
Al-Anzaar Fi Gharaaib Al-Amsar Wa Ajaaib Al-Asfaar [A gift to those who
contemplate the wonders of cities and the marvels of traveling], but it is
commonly referred to as Ibn Battuta’s Rihla 

[Rihlaa means journey]. 

Propelled
by the quest for adventure and knowledge, Ibn Battuta set out on this journey
when he was just 21 years old, initially intending to go on the Hajj to Makkah.
The journey, however, spanned almost 30 years. 

In that period, he covered
nearly the entirety of the known Islamic world and beyond: from North Africa,
West Africa, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe in the west, to the Middle
East, Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China in the east,
a distance greatly surpassing that covered by his predecessors or by his
near-contemporary, Marco Polo. 

When Ibn Battuta finally returned to Morocco in
the early 1350s, he was commissioned by Abu Inaan Faaris, the Sultaan of
Morocco, to produce an account of his travels. Ibn Battuta then dictated his
story to the poet Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi…..popular known as Rihlaa. 

The famous eighth-century historian,
Ibn Battuta relates in his Rihlaa that:

On every Jum’ah after the Salaah and
also on the Birthday of the Beloved Prophet [Peace be upon Him], the door of
the Holy Ka’abah is opened by the head of the Banu Shayba the doorkeepers of
the Holy Ka’bah while on the Meelaad Shareef, the Shafi’i head judge of Makkah
al-Mukarramah, Najm al-Din Muhammad ibn al-Imaam Muhyi al-Din al-Tabari,
distributed food to the descendants of the Beloved Prophet [Sallal Laahu Alaieh
Wa Sallam] and to the people of Makkah al-Mukarramah…..in celebration.